Recent convert to Campari and the Negroni here (inspired by Jason Wilson's excellent Boozehound). Made mine to wide acclaim (as wide as you can get among four drinkers, at least) according to the first Esquire recipe I found on Google at the time:
1.5 oz Gin
0.75 oz Campari
0.75 oz Sweet Vermouth
Orange twist
I've also tried it with the *assertive* flavor of Fernet-Branca, which I liked (though the Fernet really has the "Midas touch" of dominating everything it touches). Save that for San Francisco or Buenos Aires, perhaps.
What are your favorite alternatives to the Negroni? Or, perhaps is there a different ratio to make the "perfect" Negroni (seems the standard was 1:1:1)? I've heard mention on Cynar before.
In general I'd like to develop my palate for bitter flavors so I can feel very sophisticated and Italian.
My favored Negroni recipe is as follows:
1.5 oz gin
1 oz Campari
.75 oz Carpano Formula Antica
Flamed orange
I never much cared for the drink until I made it with the Carpano vermouth. To my tastes, every other vermouth I've tried in it gets lost, even at 1:1:1 proportions.
As for variations, I serve one at my bar in the summer that we call the FauxGroni:
.75 oz gin
.75 oz Campari
.5 oz Carpano
.5 oz lemon juice
Soda
Build in a tall glass (12 oz) over ice. Top with soda. Lemon twist for garnish.
It is ungodly refreshing and a smidge lower in alcohol than your average cocktail, which I appreciate when the weather is hot and I'd like to have a couple.
The Negroni is one of my all time favorite cocktails. If you like bourbon or rye I'd highly recommend you experiment in that direction, as that's certainly what I've done. Here are a couple of my favorites.
Boulevardier
long time back we came up with a Negroni variant that, for reasons now lost, we called....
The Maltese Negroni
1 pt gin
1 pt campari
1 pt red wine (either shiraz/syrah, zinfandel, or grenache)
1/2 pt pedro ximenez sherry.
Build over ice, stir, and garnish with an orange wedge or a cherry previously soaked in a syrup made with pinot noir and brandy.
Yeah, I've heard wonderful things about that Carpano, but have been unable to find it here (DC) in brick-and-mortar places thus far. I've been using Dolin, which is far superior to the standard fare, but reportedly lacks that je ne se qua.
That FauxGroni sounds like an excellent day-drinking cocktail on a hot afternoon. The standard Negroni is on the boozy side, to be sure.
Green Machine,
I'm in DC as well. Check out either Ace Beverage on New Mexico or the liquor store between 20th and 21st on P.
Two Negroni variations I've had and enjoyed, their names long-forgotten:
1) Swap out the gin for a nice 100% agave blanco tequila (Herradura, Don Julio, or similar), swap out the Campari for Aperol, orange peel garnish. This really isn't that different to a Restraining Order, but with a splash of red vermouth in it.
2) Hendrick's gin, Aperol, and a nice Pedro Ximenez - heavy on the gin, light on the PX (maybe in Jamie Boudreau's preferred 1.5/.75/.5 ratio?). Stir in a mixing glass full of ice and diced cucumber to add an extra cucumber note.
You may also be interested in Alice's Key, from Eat.Drink.Think: equal parts gin, Aperol, and Bonal Gentiane-Quina.
I've enjoyed most Negroni variations I've tried.
At Le Cabrera in Madrid, I had a version made with Old Tom, Aperol and some artesanal, homemade catalan sweet vermouth.
Recently I aslo had Campari / Sweet Italian Vermouth and, instead of gin, juniper infused Grappa.
Last week in London, at Purl, I tried their very nice take on the Negroni, the Salted Olive Negro-ni: Tanqueray, Aperol, and their own salted black olive Antica Formula.
I don't know if it falls under the Negroni variation category, but there is also the Comte de Sureau from Gonçalo de Sousa Monteiro: 4 cl Gin, 3,2 St Germain and 0,8 Campari..
Bottoms Up Havana Cocteles Ginger
Try half Punt e Mes and half sweet vermouth of your choice as a substitute for Carpano Antica
Some Negronis variations that I like:
Sorella Negroni 1 oz Gin 1 oz Aperol 1/2 oz Sweet vermouth, Punt e Mes 1/2 oz Dry vermouth 2 ds Orange bitters
Negroni Special1 oz Old Tom Gin 1 oz Sweet vermouth, Carpano Antica 1 oz Campari 1 twst Orange peel
Right Hand 2 oz Añejo rum 3/4 oz Sweet vermouth 3/4 oz Campari 2 ds Xocolatl Mole bitters Other Negronis on Kindred Cocktails
Right Hand 2 oz Añejo rum 3/4 oz Sweet vermouth 3/4 oz Campari 2 ds Xocolatl Mole bitters
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Well, we tried a range of these last night, and the favorite by far was the Boulevardier. It's excellent. Manhatten-esque, but with more complexity. The spiciness of the rye and the bitter-sweetness of the Campari really add some backbone to the sweet vermouth.
I'm going to experiment with some Cynar along these lines tonight.
Thanks so much for the tip re: Carpano Antica, Dan. I'll definitely look into that.
Also, I keep seeing Aperol crop up in interesting-looking cocktails. That's on the list for my next run.
I like the concept of the Right Hand, a sort of Oaxacan-inspired recipe with the mole bitters. (I'm interested in experimenting with some southern Mexican regional flavors; like mezcal, mole, chili, lime, too; heard of anything?)
We did a slightly Chinese inspired version out here with Martin Millers, Aperol, and Osmanthus Wine, and orange bitters.
Two of my favorite variations -
Bay Point (A combination Negroni and Martinez which I came up with to try and make Campari a bit more approachable for an ex-girlfriend):
1oz Gin 3/4-1oz Sweet Vermouth (she preferred it on the sweeter side, I like it with less vermouth) 1oz Campari Dash Maraschino Liqueur 2 Dashes Orange Bitters
(for anyone interested in where the name came from, Bay Point is a small town immediately to the east of Martinez, CA)
And the Cornwall Negroni (can't remember who created this one, but I believe I saw Gary Regan post the recipe):
2oz Gin 1/2oz Campari 1/2oz Punt e Mes 1/2oz Sweet Vermouth 2 Dashes Orange Bitters
I like the Boulevardier on Buffalo Trace myself and I am myself drinking loads of Monkey Shoulder Boulevardier number 3 cocktails (since I work with Monkey shoulder and fortunately for me It tastes great)
I added the number 3 to denote Scotch Whisky, seems every time I head into a "trendy" bar and order a whisky cocktail the bartender says "wow nice drink, I might make that on Rye" won't be long now and my white ladies will be blue by default !
Dean
I like to use Gran Classico Bitter in place of Campari- it makes a delicious Negroni!